Pinal Today

A Casa Grande city council member who will not seek re-election recently visited Wildflower Ranch, where a relic from his career has been installed.

Councilmember Dick Powell's family store, Powell's Feed & Supply, closed in April 2019 after 68 years in business in Casa Grande. Powell recently visited the ranch of Sean and Tiffany Dietrich, where a tack room was constructed with tin siding and a heavy wooden door that had been part of a shed behind Powell’s store.

The shed was formerly a chicken processing facility behind the family store. Powell spent a lot of time there when he was a child, he told the Casa Grande Dispatch.

"Even the writing – 'Keep this door closed' – was still there," Powell said. "It's amazing what they’ve done. They brought the door and the shed back to life. It's just like it was. I'm tickled to death with what they’ve done ... There are a lot of memories with this shed."

Powell's father, Dewey, moved his family to Casa Grande in 1951, Powell said in a goodbye letter posted by PinalCentral.com.

"He leased a store initially, then built his own store in 1953, where an auction barn had formerly been," the letter read. "Casa Grande was small and very friendly. We all soon came to love our new home and community ... Dad always had a strong work ethic, and brother Don and I grew up working in the store after school, Saturdays, and through the summers. I told Dad one day that most of my friends didn't have to work. He said, 'I feel sorry for them not knowing how to work.' Case closed!"

After earning a double degree in marketing and management from Northern Arizona University, Powell worked for Ralston Purina in California, New York, and Indiana before returning to work at the family business in the fall of 1970.

"I've worked 49 years at Powell's and my wife Nancy, 25," Powell said. "All my children were involved with the store at some point ... I've been the manager of Powell's for so long and have totally enjoyed my time spent in our family business. Most of all, I will miss all the wonderful customers and visiting with so many in my office. I have many happy memories!"

The Dietriches said they are "happy to preserve a little bit of Casa Grande history" in the materials they salvaged from Powell's store for use in their tack room.

"Mr. Powell offered to let us salvage what we could from the building when he was closing the store," Sean Dietrich told the Casa Grande Dispatch. "Tiffany was looking for a rustic aesthetic for the tack room, so the material was calling our name ... It's an honor for us to have a piece of the city's history and to remember the families that made Casa Grande what it is."

Powell has been a member of the city council since June 1997. He will serve his 25th year on the council but will not run for re-election, according to the Casa Grande Dispatch. 

"It's sad in a way to be leaving the council, but I'm leaving it in good hands," Powell said.